Voodoo Mind Barrier

[Christopher]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

I honestly don't know what you mean by "level of Detect." As far as I know' date=' Detect doesn't come in levels. It's a 40 Active Point Power if that's what you're asking.[/quote']

Your detect build Power (great P) is a 40 AP Power. But what level of detect, the hero system power (small p) is it build with: 3, 5, 10 or how high do you value the effect?

 

How is Detect Mutant beatable?

You don't have a "Distinctive Feature Mutant" Complication.

If you have, you want your enemys to have a propper detect (since this is why you took it) or the GM said everyone with powers will have it, making it a part of the campiagn.

But until then, even if my Background says Mutant, this won't work on me.

 

While I'm at it' date=' as far as "Detecting a Special Effect" goes, Detect Magic has been around since the first Fantasy Hero.[/quote']

That is Detect "Use of Magical Power"

The same way Mental Awareness is Detect "Use of Mental Power".

 

That is totally different from:

Detect "Everyone and everyhting with Magic powers, even if it has no Complications and does not uses them right now".

The same way Mental Awareness and Detect "Mentalist" are two totally different pair of shoes.

 

There is still a big difference between detecting a Distinctive Feature someone got Matching Complication for, or detecting some just because he has a power with a certain SFX.

I find it totally unfair to allow it when the target does not recieves the bonus for having that complication (since he can be easily found/identified over range).

[beezany]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

There are a lot of traits about a person that are detectable without being Distinctive Features. Indeed, the rules for Mind Scan imply that merely having a lot of APs in Mental Powers makes you notable. So I wouldn't have a problem with a "Detect Mentalists" power complementary to Mental Awareness, that detects the source of the power rather than its use. I think it would be a good idea to have a skill roll attached, though.

[Christopher]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

Well, you don't need a detect when you already have Mind Scan. It usually gives you better Result and Area anyway.

[Lucius]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

Your detect build Power (great P) is a 40 AP Power. But what level of detect, the hero system power (small p) is it build with: 3, 5, 10 or how high do you value the effect?

 

I think the usual convention around here is to use Upper Case for game mechanical elements (Power: Blast) and lower case for specific individual abilities (power: stellar photonic blasts.)

 

But to answer your question, I picked 5 pts for the base effect.

 

To answer the rest of your concerns, I doubt very many characters have anything like Distinctive Features: blood type B-

 

But a phlebotomist can most certainly draw their blood, run a test, and determine their blood type. A vampire might be able to detect it by taste or maybe even smell. Not having Distinctive Features: Blood Type does not make your blood type undetectable.

 

I went back to read the rules just to be sure, because I wasn't sure where you were getting this, but Detect does not require Distinctive Features Complication to work. If you want it to, that's a house rule. Barring such a house rule, all Detect X needs to work is a Percpetion roll and the presence of detectable quantities of X, for any given value of X.

 

A golem does not need Distinctive Features: heart of gold to set off the Dwarf's Detect Gold power. If it's going to run into lots of Dwarves that want to take a pickaxe to it to get the gold then yes, it should have the Distinctive Features (or a Hunted) but not taking the Distinctive Features doesn't mean the Dwarves don't know it's hiding a lump of pure gold somewhere. If there's only going to be one Dwarf around with Detect Gold and especially if that Dwarf would be reluctant to destroy a useful magical construct for the sake of a golden nugget then the golem absolutely should NOT get Distinctive Features; the situation doesn't merit Complication points. But the gold is still there, and the Dwarf still knows it's there.

 

Similarly, if vampires can Detect Blood Type by smell and have a preference for B- (I think evil bloodsucking horrors would usually be negative....) and there's going to be a lot of vampires in the campaign, someone with that blood type should have either Distinctive Features or Hunted. If vampires and phlebotomists are rare threats, the Complication isn't warranted - but that doesn't mean everyone's blood type somehow becomes undetectable. Nor does it mean that someone with B+ blood, less sought after by vampires, is somehow less detectable than someone with the B- Blood Complication (I think we can be positive about that.)

 

Just to clarify something, by "Detect Mentalist" I intended "Detect person with unusual abilities of psionic special effect." It was never my intention to suggest a power that would also detect, say, someone carrying around a hypodermic of truth serum defined as Telepathy, Based on CON.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary, Based on CON

[Balabanto]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

The correct way to build "Voodoo Mind Barrier" would be to buy Invisibility with No Fringe to the Mental Sense group. Then Mind Scanning, Clairsentience, and all those other sensory powers simply cannot locate you. Here's a hint when this happens. Most teams of superheroes have a detective. Perhaps it's time to let the guy shine and use some skills.

[Christopher]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

Just to clarify something' date=' by "Detect Mentalist" I intended "Detect person with unusual abilities of psionic special effect." It was never my intention to suggest a power that would also detect, say, someone carrying around a hypodermic of truth serum defined as Telepathy, Based on CON.[/quote']

Didn't thought so.

 

I think you are already making a Campiagn rule:

That all Mentalist are detectable just by having their abilites. The same way all Mutant are detectable in Mutant Hytseria Campaings. A few unimportant NPC here and there having a Scanner is not an issue and of course throughout medical exermination can always reveal the superhuman nature of someone.

But as soon as your players or one of the player nemsi has such a Power at his disposal, a Distinctive Feature is waranted. The way you build it, you can detect the exact location of any mentalist withint a high range, break through any disguse/Sense Affecting Power that does not include a propper part for this (it means they needs at least one Targetting sense group additionally), you can become near impossible to shake off,...

At least for me it sounds like he is really hindered by it.

[beezany]

Re: Voodoo Mind Barrier

 

By standard rules, Mind Scan makes it easy to find mentalists, but I'm not aware of a general recommendation that mentalists take a Distinctive Feature complication. Just because there are ways to find you doesn't mean it's worth points.